The National Park Service (NPS) will be renaming
two areas of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore to better represent the
natural resources of the park

According to a statement released today, the area now known as Inland Marsh
will be renamed Tolleston Dunes, while the area now known as the Ly-Co-Ki-We
Trail will be renamed the Glenwood Dune Trail.

The National Lakeshore was established to protect and preserve the unique
natural resources at the tip of Lake Michigan, originally formed some 14,000
years ago when the Wisconsin glacier, the last glacier to cover this region,
began melting. As the ice melted, Lake Michigan and the other Great Lakes
were left behind. On Lake Michigan, as many as seven successive shorelines
were formed during the melting process, giving rise to our modern day
beaches, sand dunes, and interdunal wetlands.

Today, four major dune complexes are preserved and can be seen within
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Beginning with the current shoreline and
moving inland into progressively older dunes, they include the present dune
formation, known as the Tolleston Dunes, and the older Calumet Dunes and
Glenwood Dunes.

The Calumet Dunes are highlighted in the National Lakeshore’s Calumet Dune
Trail in the east district of the park. However, there are no places in the
park named for the Tolleston Dunes or the Glenwood Dunes. Both are
“significant park resources and a major consideration in how the park was
established and where the boundaries were located,” NPS said. “It is
appropriate that these significant resources be highlighted on the
landscape.”

Farthest inland are the Glenwood Dunes, representing the oldest of three
earlier shorelines and dating to about 14,000 years ago. One of the best
places to see this dune line in the park is in the area around the Ly-Co-Ki-We
Trail. “The name Ly-Co-Ki-We is not a Native American name and has no
historic connotation with the area,” NPS said. “Renaming this trail the
Glenwood Dune Trail is a more accurate name for this part of the national
Lakeshore and will emphasize this geological feature.”

The Tolleston Dunes, meanwhile, dating from about 4,500 years ago, can be
seen in the area now called Inland Marsh, named for the former Inland Steel
Corporation which once owned part of this area. But “most of the area is
actually savanna, dunes, and marsh,” NPS said. “Inland Marsh is inaccurately
named and the name does not appropriately encompass the adjoining savanna
and dunes areas that have become part of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.
Renaming this location Tolleston Dunes gives definition to this section of
the park and lets visitors know where to find the third of the historic
shorelines.”

Charlotte Read, with her husband Herb a long-time advocate for the Indiana
Dunes, favor the name changes. “Herb and I lived for many years on a dune
where the Calumet Dunes and Glenwood Dunes intersect,” she said. “Just a few
steps north of our former home is my favorite National Lakeshore hiking
trail, now called the Ly-co-ki-we Trail. I support renaming it the Glenwood
Trail, which tells hikers as they trek eastward that the higher dunes they
see are part of the Glenwood stage of dune development. Changing Inland
Marsh to the Tolleston Dunes will also help folks become more geologically
savvy."

Dr. Ken Schoon, author of the book Calumet Beginnings, agrees. “I
welcome the change in names because these new designations will make it
easier for both visitors and local residents to understand the area’s rich
geological history,” he said. “The National Lakeshore contains diverse
ecosystems. The older Glenwood Dunes for instance look different from and
have different vegetation than the younger Tolleston and recent dunes. Once
these names are on lakeshore maps, visitors can easily go from one dune
complex to the next and see the differences for themselves.”

“Taken as a whole, the Tolleston Dunes area, Calumet Dune Trail, and
Glenwood Dune Trail will help visitors better understand the geological and
geographic resources of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore,” NPS said. “The
new names also illustrate why the founders of the national park chose areas
inland from the shore for protection and inclusion in the park boundaries.”

The name changes will take effect this month. But “it will take time to
change signs and publications,” NPS added. “The National Park Service will
refer to the new and old names of these areas for some time until the full
transition to the new names is completed.”